The Mysterious Piece Of Paper
by ashrac
Summary: Four friends go to an isolated house to have fun. When they were almost close to the house they heard voices coming from inside. The voices from inside the house led them to believe that there were four to five people in the house and they were arguing and fighting among themselves about something. Suddenly the sound of a gunshot came from inside followed by a heart piercing cry..


Rajshekhar Appartments was a big residential colony inhabited by good, well to do families. Raju, Sunil, Rohit and Shivansh's parents were neighbours and very good friends. Like their parents the children were also good friends and studied in the same class. Most of the time they stayed together They would all go to school together and play had one more thing in common. They all loved adventure. On Sundays when their parents were enjoying their weekly day off, they would pickup their cycles and paddle their way to remote places, where they would spend the whole day exploring the area and playing games. There they would have their lunch and then come back in the evening. This was the routine they followed every Sunday except when they were about to take their exams.

It was on one of these Sunday's that took them to a place near the river where they saw a run down house. Curious as they were by nature, their feet automatically moved towards that house. A close look at the house told them that it must have been standing there for years, worn down by the cruelty of nature. The main gate was almost broken and about to fall apart. Tall grass was growing in the compound. Showing no signs of fear all the four went inside. Inside there were three rooms all of which were unfinished. A deep layer of dust carpeted the floors and plaster was peeling off from the walls. There were also signs of water seeping through the roof. It was a house standing on it's feet by sheer luck.

All the four friends cleared a part of the floor with the help of some grass taken from the compound and sat there for lunch. The empty rooms provided them with ample space to play their games. This house proved to be an ideal playground for playing side and seek. They ran after grasshoppers perched on top of tall grass. They played bandits looking for the lost treasures. They enjoyed shouting in the empty rooms when their voices would echo back with even greater ferocity. All in all it was a very satisfying day for all of them. All of them were thoroughly exhausted when they reached home. Their experience at the house was so enthralling that they decided to make this house as their permanent stop over. Next Sunday when they went to the house, they carried with them a broom, a bucket and a small jug full of water. They spent the whole day clearing up the dust and tidying up the rooms. After they felt satisfied with their job they returned back as evening was also approaching . Now most of their Sundays were spent at this house. Sometimes they would also carry their homework with them and even study there. Here it was so quiet and peaceful.

One Sunday, as they were approaching the house, they spotted a car parked outside the house .They felt very curious. During all their visits to the house they did not come across any visitors .It was something quite strange. Their first thought was that the owner of the house might have come to visit his property. They hid behind a tree and started to watch for any activity inside the house. But when nothing moved and there was no activity they tiptoed towards the house, often hiding behind the bushes and speaking in hushed voices. When they were almost close to the house they heard voices coming from inside. The voices from inside the house led them to believe that there were four to five people in the house and they were arguing and fighting among themselves about something. Suddenly the sound of a gunshot came from inside followed by a heart piercing cry. Before they could think of something they heard steps running out of the house. Four tough looking guys came through the front door and hurried inside the car which instantly took off. One of the guys was even pushing a gun in his pocket as he was running. The boys were so overcome with fear for the first time in their lives that they found it difficult to speak. Sweat started to flow from their foreheads and they felt as if their legs were shaking underneath them. Their first reaction was to go for their bicycles and hurry off to home never to return back but then they thought of the person who might have been hit by the bullet. He might be in need of some medical help. They tried to summon up their strength to go inside but fear won upon their courage and they decided not to enter the house. Instead they stayed outside not knowing why and what did they expect to happen. They had barely waited a few minutes when they saw a man staggering out of the house. He had barely come out of the house when he collapsed. The boys, forgetting their fear, ran towards him and in an instant were by his side. Upon reaching him they saw body of a well built man, presumably in his early forties. He was well dressed and had a handsome face. The man had been hit near the heart and was bleeding profusely. Though he was breathing but his pulse was weak. Now the main problem that faced them was to call for medical help. From where they were the city was quite far off and by the time they came with the help the person may be already dead. Also he needed immediate first aid. So they carried on with what they thought was best. While Raju put a handkerchief on the wound to stop bleeding, Sunil brought some water from the water jug he was carrying. He soaked his handkerchief in the water and applied the wet handkerchief to the man's lips. Meanwhile Shivansh and Rohit found two long and strong pieces of sticks and tied them together in the form of a crude stretcher. After preparations were done they laid the man on the stretcher. While the boys were busy taking care of the man, they heard the man moan. He was coming to senses. In a very feeble voice, which was barely audible, he was trying to tell them something. But when he saw that the boys could not understand him, he pointed his finger towards hip pocket. Raju went through his hip pocket and took out his wallet but the man kept on pointing towards his hip pocket. Raju searched again but could not find anything new. The man was still pointing the finger to his hip pocket. Raju's third search yielded results. Inside the hip pocked there was a small opening concealed behind a layer of cloth. When Raju ran his fingers inside the small opening he felt a piece of paper tucked inside. He frisked the paper out. It was a piece of paper torn out from a notebook and upon that piece of paper something was written which they could not understand. It looked as if something was written in code words. Though the boys could not make out head or toe of whatever was written on the paper yet one thing was clear that whatever was written was very important as the man had risked his life to save that piece of paper. As soon as the man saw that Raju had found the paper he passed out again as if satisfied that the paper was now in safe hands.

The boys lifted the stretcher and took turn to carry it till the main road. There they were made to wait for almost like half an hour as no one seemed willing to help them. After about half an hour's waiting a mini van stopped by to help them carry the man to the nearest hospital. Raju and Shivansh accompanied the man to the hospital, while the other two rode the bicycles home after which they also joined Raju and Shivansh at the hospital. Meanwhile at the hospital the man was taken care off immediately and moved to ICU as his condition had deteriorated. The matter was reported to the nearest police station as it was a case of gun shot. The inspector that arrived seemed to be a good man and his first task upon arrival was to put the children at ease. After he had seen that the boys were now comfortable he started his investigation and asked the children about the sequence of events. The boys narrated everything as it happened and even handed the wallet to the inspector but, on some inner instinct, kept the discovery of the secret letter to themselves. After the boys had given their account of the incident there was nothing more for them to do at the hospital so the inspector made arrangements for them to be dropped at their society.

The boys kept in touch with the inspector and updated themselves on the man's condition which had not improved much. The man was still unconscious and was still under strict medical attention.

During all this sequence of events the children completely forgot about the piece of paper they had found in the pocket of the injured man when one day Raju received an unknown call asking him if he had found a piece of paper on the injured man. Upon denial the call got disconnected but from there on the boys felt as if they were under constant watch. They felt as if eyes were always watching their backs wherever they went . Sometimes they could hear footsteps behind them but could see no became serious when one day Raju and his parents went out to watch a movie at the theater .After watching the movie when they came back they found their house in complete mess. Drawers were thrown open and it's contents lay scattered on the floor, showpieces in the drawing room had been turned upside down, Pillow covers were taken off the pillows and lay crumpled on the floor, almirahs were forced open and their contents thoroughly searched .It looked as if an earthquake had hit their house. But the strange thing was that all valuables lay intact, nothing was taken. Obviously, the robbers were not after money, they were after something else. Raju's father reported the matter to the police. The team arrived and started their investigation. After about two hours of investigation and picking up all the evidences the team left their house with the promise that they would come back soon with any lead.

Instantly one question that arose in boy's mind and to which they could find no answer was how could someone guess about a piece of paper being in their possession and where to find it. Finding no answer they took upon themselves to solve the mystery.

Raju took out the piece of paper from his pocket and spread it on the table where everyone of them could see it clearly. But however hard they tried they could not make anything out of the message. The more they read the message the more they got puzzled. The message seemed to point nowhere, yet there was something in it that they were missing and which was key to all the happenings. When their mind got tired due to the effort, they left the paper and it's mystery only to return to it later. Days went by but they could not crack the mystery. Also the injured man was still unconscious. So there seemed no light ahead of the tunnel.

Due to the failure to crack down the mystery of the piece of paper, the children became crestfallen. Each day that passed without success brought them more mental misery and finally when nothing seemed to work for them the boys reluctantly decided to hand over the piece of paper to the police inspector who was investigating the case. Next day when they were about to go out to the police station when at last lady luck finally seemed to smile on them. It all started when Rohit's father, who was manager in a bank, told them about the machine that could detect a fake currency note from the real one by throwing a special type of light on the currency note. The light when directed on the currency note reveals invisible markings on it which are not visible to the naked eye under normal light. On an instinct Rohit requested his father to show them the actual working of the machine to which his father accepted the request. The boys along with Rohit's father went to the bank the next day. There at the bank they were shown how a fake currency note could be detected. At this moment while Sunil diverted the attention of the machine operator by asking him questions on the working of the machine, Raju took the piece of paper and placed it in the machine. No sooner had the ray of light fallen on it, words started to shine on the piece of paper which were hitherto invisible to the naked eye. While the operator was busy answering questions put up by Sunil, Raju quickly noted down the information on a sheet of paper. After they were through they thanked the machine operator and Rohit's father and left the bank. At last they had finally been able to decode the were now in a hurry to reach home so that they could read the secret message.

As soon as they were on the street they could now see two people tailing them. The boys tried their best to dodge them but they found the two people to be right behind them. The boys tried to run fast but the men also ran fast. The boys ran into tight alleys which they thought they only knew but the two guys traced them easily. Finally after a few minutes of cat and mouse chase the two thugs came upto the boys and overpowered them and thrust them into the back seat of a waiting car. The boys were blindfolded and handcuffed. After securing the boys the car started and kept on running for some kilometres. The boys could not make out the path the car was taking. It felt as if it was running in circles. After about, what it seemed to be, an hour the car stopped and the boys were roughly taken out from it. They were then ordered to move and a pair of rough hands guided their path. They might have walked a couple of paces when they heard the opening of a door. They were then shoved into the door and heard the door close. Unsure of their situation the boys felt it best to keep silent lest anyone should hear their talk. They might have remained in this situation for a few hours as their body was paining badly and they were feeling hungry . As if on hunch, the door opened and they heard footsteps coming towards them. The next thing they realised was light falling on their eyes as their blindfolds and the handcuffs had been removed. Men had also brought them things to eat. The situation the boys found themselves to be in, they were too frightened to eat and their whole body was aching badly. Also they were perplexed as to why they have been kidnapped. Though they did not feel like eating yet they took a few bites in order to sustain their bodies.

When the boys had been fed and feeling somewhat relaxed a masked man entered the room. After talking some polite words and apologizing for the way the boys had been brought, he came to the point and asked for the mysterious paper. Now the boys understood the reason for their kidnapping and nasty sequence of events that had taken place recently. Though visibly afraid the boys summoned the last ounce of their courage and told the man that they had no paper. The masked man, who until now had behaved mildly, suddenly became furious and warned the children of dire consequences if they did not tell the truth. But the children stood their ground. Frustrated, the masked man ordered his men to throw the boys in an empty room and keep them hungry. When this did not work he became more furious and started to use force on the boys. They were hung upside down and slapped repeatedly. They were threatened to be cut into pieces if they did not give the criminals what they wanted and their pieces would be sent to their parents.

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The boys could bear it no longer and were about to hand over the paper to the masked man when they heard sounds of gunshots outside their place of captivity and a lot of commotion. Sounds of running feet and yelling came from everywhere. Nobody seemed to care about them. In between all this malaise and confusion the boys thought they heard the sound of Rohit's father calling their names. What a welcome sound it was. The boys could not believe their luck. All the boys started to yell at the top of their voices and the next instant the door of their room was forced open. There on the door stood Rohit's father along with good natured police inspector holding a gun. Seeing Rohit's father the boys felt so relaxed that tears of joy began to fall from their eyes and they all ran towards him and hugged him tightly. Rohit's father was also crying with joy.

Upon coming out of their room the boys saw policemen scattered everywhere and fighting the tough guys. Bullets were being fired from both sides and sound of someone's cry of pain made the atmosphere even more frightening. As instructed by the inspector all the boys bundled into the Rohit's car which was then driven by his father to the safety of their home. On reaching their homes the boys instantly went to their rooms and soon felt asleep. They must have slept for hours for when they finally woke up it was afternoon the next day. No sooner had they been awake they were told that the police inspector was waiting for them at Rohit's house.

All the boys reached at Rohit's house where their parents were also present along with the inspector. There they were told by the inspector that all the criminals that had kidnapped the boys have been arrested and their identity revealed. It was a gang of well known bad elements who was serving the interests of some high profile people but beyond which they would not reveal anything how hard the police may try. The inspector further told them that the boys were lucky to escape their wrath by the timely intervention of the police. At this point the boys could not suppress their curiosity any longer and asked the inspector about how was he able to find their whereabouts. To which the inspector told them that the day Raju's house was entered into and nothing of value seemed to be missing, the inspector got puzzled. Also he found a frightened look on Raju's face yet Raju was reluctant to reveal anything. This heightened the suspicion of the inspector even more and he became sure that Raju was hiding something from him. To know the truth the inspector deputed a couple of police detectives to keep a constant watch on the boys. The detectives followed the boys wherever they went day in and day out. The detectives had even followed the boys to the kidnapper's hideout and were waiting for the right moment to strike. The right moment came when Raju's father approached the police and reported about missing children.

Situation was now back to normal. The criminals had been arrested and the boys returned to the safety of their homes but the big question still remained about who the gang was working for. The man who had been hit by the criminals was still unconscious. It was then that Raju pulled out the piece of paper, given to him by the injured man for safe keeping, and handed it to the inspector along with the paper on which he had written the secret information at the bank. The inspector took both the papers and left.

The boys did not hear from the inspector for the next few weeks and then one fine day the inspector arrived and told them that the main culprit, a man of high repute and a respectable name in the society, has been apprehended. He was head of a syndicate that was involved in big time anti national activities. His network spread far and wide and few police officers were also working for him. That's how the criminals came to know about the address and phone number of the boys and contacted Raju on his phone. The paper provided by the children contained the list of names of all his accomplices which proved be a big asset in arresting all the criminals.

The inspector had one more good news for the children. The injured man had regained consciousness and his condition was improving. He was a member of the secret police working undercover to expose the main culprit who was using the cloak of his high status to undertake his nefarious activities. But the detective's cover was blown off due to betrayal by some people of his own department. That's when he tried to escape the criminals and was shot.

The inspector also told the boys that the detective was very keen to meet the boys and thank them for saving his life and guarding the important piece of evidence with their own lives. The boys on their part were also keen to meet the real life detective, so they rushed to the hospital with the inspector.


End file.
